NORTHAMPTON, Mass. -- In recent years, Smith College has
made a number of positive efforts toward environmental sustainability.
Furthering that commitment, Smith President Carol T. Christ
will sign a voluntary partnership agreement with Clean Air-Cool
Planet (CA-CP), pledging the college to work toward reducing
greenhouse gases in its operations and to promote awareness
among its students, faculty and staff of the importance of
responsible environmental stewardship.

A panel discussion among three speakers on global warming,
renewable energy and campus sustainability will take place
at noon on Wednesday, April 14, in the Neilson Library Browsing
Room and will be followed by the signing ceremony.

The event is free and open to the public.

Featured on the panel will be Steven Roof, assistant professor
of earth and environmental sciences at Hampshire College
and a frequent speaker on issues of climate change, conservation,
land use planning and environmental chemistry; Mia Devine,
graduate student at UMass and a research assistant for the
Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; and Ned
Raynolds, senior program officer at CA-CP and an expert in
energy and environmental policy.

Based in Portsmouth, N.H., CA-CP is a science-based non-profit
organization dedicated to finding and promoting solutions
for global warming in New England and the Northeast. CA-CP
works with university and college campuses to set up a framework
for action against global warming, particularly by cutting
down on carbon emissions. In signing the partnership agreement,
Smith will gain access to CA-CP's campus greenhouse gas inventory
calculator, which will help the college monitor and lower
harmful emissions. Furthermore, CA-CP will provide Smith
with current climate change information, outreach and communication
assistance, and a network of regional campus contacts.

"This is a notable step on behalf of Smith," said
Professor of Geology Allen Curran, chair of the college's
recently established Sustainability Committee and director
of the college's Environmental Science and Policy Program. "Joining
forces with Clean Air-Cool Planet will launch the college
into the company of such sustainable institutions as Tufts
University and Bates, Middlebury and Skidmore Colleges."

Sponsors of the panel discussion include the Smith chapter
of MassPIRG, a student-run organization that works for positive
change in hunger and homelessness, consumer education and
the environment.

Smith College is consistently ranked among the nation's
foremost liberal arts colleges. Enrolling 2,800 students
from every state and 60 other countries, Smith is the largest
undergraduate women's college in the country.